Mumbai: Grand sets, palatial architecture, and dreamy locations – all in one come together in the film for Reliance Jewels, conceptualised by Scarecrow M&C Saatchi which pay homage to Thanjavur – a mystical Kingdom and the cultural capital of spellbinding art and Dravidian architecture. The campaign was launched on the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya.
Along with Scarecrow M&C Saatchi for Reliance Jewels, this is the fifth comprehensive endeavour to narrate thousand-year-old stories of India’s cosmic art, dance, culture, traditions and heritage.
Putting things into perspective, in India, jewellery has always played a significant role in terms of culture, investment, social standing, and fashion. The market for the industry of jewellery is always expanding and changing. Even though styles and trends may shift occasionally, this sector will continue to grow. The jewellery industry has changed throughout the years due to consumer preferences altering and technological advancements. India is one of the world’s major producers of jewellery, however, the market is split between organized and unorganized. India’s jewellery market is expanding quickly.
Indiantelevision.com caught up with Reliance Jewels CEO Sunil Nayak and Scarecrow M&C Saatchi founder director Manish Bhatt and delved into the brand’s extravagant film, the brand’s advertising and marketing strategies and more.
Edited excerpts:
On choosing to take this route for the brand and the films in this series that are there in the pipeline
Nayak: Every place and time period has a unique narrative to tell. The beauty and craftsmanship of India are defined by these stories, and at Reliance Jewels, we want to capture the spirit of these tales. We want to develop designs that are unique to a place and could incorporate elements from many Indian civilizations. It facilitates the telling of our stories. These movies assist us in telling the tales we want our jewellery to convey. We intend to create further collections that will showcase other locations in India. The movies will undoubtedly play a role in some of them.
On the brief that was given by the client for this film
Bhatt: Reliance Jewels has a very unique and cherishable product strategy. Every year, to leverage two major jewellery shopping occasions (Akshaya Tritiya & Dhanteras), Reliance Jewels comes up with themed collections inspired by our culture, traditions, history, art, and heritage. Their in-house jewellery design team does a beautiful job of translating such profound elements of history, culture and art into stunning pieces of lifestyle statements for consumers.
On the creative thought behind such a film. And what was the initial seed of creative thought that has bloomed into a series of thematic films for the brand?
Bhatt: We are working on this series since the beginning of 2020 and have created communication elements for five such collections: Utkala (Odisha), Kaasyam (Benaras), Rannkaar (Kutch), Mahalaya (Maharashtra) and now for the 1000 years of history, art and temple architecture of Thanjavur.
For us, it is an opportunity to create culturally-driven creative communication. We look at it not just as a marketing opportunity for the client to capitalise the season but as an opportunity to celebrate the culture for centuries to come.
Be it typography, cinematography, music, poetry, illustrations, graphic design or jewellery design, for Scarecrow M&C Saatchi and Reliance jewels it is a collective, humble and sincere attempt to preserve and archive the cultural elements of different regions just like the potters of Mohenjo-Daro tried thousands of years back by making utensils for all of us to study, recognise, cherish and feel proud about our culture buried in history.
Thanjavur is a unique ancient city which has immense cultural significance as the capital of Chola dynasty. It subsequently also has an influence of Nayakas and Marathas. It is the epicentre of Temple Architecture, Frescoes, Bronze statues, Tanjore paintings, Bharatanatyam dance form, Carnatic Music, Crafts of Bommai dolls. From a religious, spiritual and mythological standpoint, it is the Benaras of South Indian and Dravidian culture.
So it is a significant city loaded with contexts.
What Mani Ratnam Sir captured about Thanjavur with two full-length feature films (PS-1 & upcoming PS-2), we have made an honest and humble attempt to capture the same in precisely 3 minutes & 27 seconds.
Thanjavur is actually a pilgrimage of Art & Temple Architecture. So, our idea is centred around the theme that it is a place where not just the Gods and Deities but even art and architecture are worshipped.
We tried to articulate this idea through cinematography, music, choreography, typography, graphic design, photography and all possible creative art forms available across the mediums.
On the common creative thread binds these campaigns. What made you finalise on such a long-term proposition for the brand?
Bhatt: The continued central thought behind this series is that if we have a great product story to tell, we don’t have to borrow insights from consumers’ lives.
Reliance Jewels is an Indian brand with high stature. As it tries to pay tribute to the cultural jewels of India, sometimes it’s important to unearth, showcase, preserve, and document it in a similar way jewels are traditionally preserved in Indian families, while at the same time inspire the current generation to tell great stories to their next generation. Stories of our proud culture and heritage woven in the form of jewellery.
On these films involving a lot of costs, time, qualified manpower and expensive equipment – how do you think all these points balance out when it comes to executing the creative?
Bhatt: In the era of overnight moment marketing, Scarecrow has been spending a disproportionate amount of time (4 to 6 months) for each campaign.
Along with the marketing team of Reliance Jewels, Scarecrow painstakingly does a lot of cultural research, recces and groundwork.
A lot of people we collaborate with like the production houses, directors, cinematographers, music experts, cultural experts, photographers, and illustrators also put unprecedented efforts behind these campaigns. And the results are visible. After all, Rome can’t be built overnight. It is like nurturing and creating a mango orchard. And the fruits will be delicious for everyone who contributes.
On the advertising and marketing strategy for the brand
Nayak: Reliance Diamonds always keeps itself informed about the tastes and preferences of its clients. We frequently do in-depth market research to be abreast of the most recent trends, consumer preferences, and conversations taking place concerning the jewellery business in general. We utilize our research to develop marketing initiatives and communications that we believe will appeal to our target demographic. Reliance Jewels is aware of its clientele and our customers are family to us. We try to engage with them on a daily basis and ensure that we celebrate their moments & achievements very closely. In addition to the existing customers we connect with multiple target groups digitally, socially, and physically because we are aware of their needs and wants and would like to communicate to them our offerings and benefits.
The core of our marketing strategy has always been to strengthen the emotional connect with customers and target audience and make the brand a part of their special moments and their daily lives. In the last few years, this has enabled us to get closer to them. In addition to the highly acclaimed brand films that we do for Akshaya Tritya , Diwali Dhanteras, our Anniversary campaign Aabhar and our Bella collection we have released films like the Daughters’s day one which touch upon the emotional chord beautifully.
The media strategy however has been quite different in the last few years. While all the traditional media continue to exist there have been a lot of changes in the Digital strategy as this allows us to connect with our audience every second and also gives an immediate response. There has been a lot of focus on geo-targeting and performance-based campaigns with a very targeted audience and also diverse communication to different target groups. There has been a lot of focus on regional connect and campaigns led by influencers and celebrities too that enabled us to connect with them in a much more personal manner. The celebrity collection launches and the conversations around the same on the digital channels and PR also have caught a lot of attention. The recent affiliation with the Lakme Fashion Week to preview our upcoming Thanjavur collection for Akshaya Tritya also saw a lot of applause.
Our extended focus on design and communication was to ensure that we give our customers what they sought out and more and also communicate to the larger audience the extensive collections and products that we create for them which we believe our customers will truly enjoy.
Our marketing plans have been carefully crafted to bring to our customers all the collections and the exquisite design we launch, their artistic beauty, crafting excellence and uniqueness in the most meaningful manner. Jewellery that is exquisite, elegant, and gorgeous but also simple and minimalistic enough to be worn every day is in high demand, and we aim to deliver that.
On using digital mediums vs traditional mediums for sales
Nayak: Every medium used by Reliance Jewelry is given equal weight. While our traditional businesses are as important, our digital channels do help us remain in contact with our consumers. We intend to expand in the untapped offline markets.
On the TG (target group) of the brand
Nayak: For the brand the TG in focus is the age group of 25 – 35, Women who fall into the millennial segment and for a few collections GenZ too. However, there is a little bit of something for everyone at Reliance Jewels. Children, women, men, or anybody else is welcome and will find something for themselves. Depending on the sort of product we are offering, our target audience will change and Individuals and age groups will experience it differently.
On plans to expand the brand presence in the country – online and offline? Please mention the brand’s retail expansion plans
Nayak: As of now, we would be focusing on expanding all across India. While we would be looking to increase our presence in all tier I towns, we would also be looking at expanding in tier III and tier IV towns. With 370+ outlets, both for stand-alone showrooms and shop-in-shops, we are now closer to our customers than ever before and we intend to further build on it. The offline channel would be well supported by our e-commerce and omnichannel initiatives.
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